Funny and well illustrated. Fairy tales with a twist.

Vey clever writing and something for parents to enjoy as they read to the little ones. You will never look at that Ugly sister the same way again, or indeed The BIG BAD WOLF! 

The Theft of the Silver Helmet

A brilliant sequel to The Silver Helmet. The story is gripping and fun to read. The characters show development, and it is refreshing to see an author of YA that lets the narrative speed along at a steady pace, he never dumbs it down and lets it flow. If your child/teen likes adventure and warriors going into battle, then this is the book for them. 

Boffin Boy and the Invaders from Space

This is just one in a series of books for children who are reluctant readers and it is a brilliant set to get, it will help to encourage children who find chapter books too much. This is a great story and the text is mostly in speech bubbles, it is comic book like in its colour and narrative. Great fun and worth a look. 

Gem Masters and the Battle for the Cyclops' Spirit

Another Gem Master book hits the shelves and it is a doozy. Fun to read and the most exciting adventure yet. So many new creatures that you wonder how the imagination of the authors can cope. If you like fantastic beasts then this series is for you. Lara is a young girl who finds out she is a Gem master. she has the ability to travel into a fantasy land. But, of course, there is a catch and lots of peril ahead. Worth reading or buying for that young reader in your life. This will keep them hooked, as with the other books, enjoyable and leaves you wanting more. 

Princesses Don't Have Stinky Bums

A diverse delight. Funny with excellent illustrations. Bright and colourful and full of great words that will make smaller children laugh. The way it is written will appeal to a wide range of children, it has a wonderful message behind the joyful story idea. Worth a read with the little ones.

Can I Join your Club?

A sweet story book with a brilliant message. All about feeling excluded and learning to accept others. The illustrations are amazing, so vibrant and full of fun. A lovely story, a clever use of language and larger than life characters. Kids will love it!

Ruby and the Moon Children

This is an insidious book, in the best way. It worms its words into your mind and keeps you thinking about it. The story line is unusual and full of adventure. The main characters have depth and you feel as though there are secrets yet to be discovered. The dog called Ruby is a great main event but is well supported. This book will have the kids asking, can I get the next one? It will grip young readers and their parents alike. We can not wait to follow Ruby on her next journey. 

How to Survive Without Grown-Ups

This can be laugh out loud funny at times, and not your typical story where everything follows the usual route. Rather, with two daring children as the main characters, it throws up a very different style and adds some witty comments to make you smile while the author teaches you a lesson or two. This is filled with amazing illustrations that gives the story life and adds a visually appealing treat for the kids. A fun read for all the family.

Lightfoot and Zig

Funny and clever. This is a detective story for kids to enjoy. The world they live in is populated with talking animals and seems to have them living alongside humans. The mystery is all about the Queen's corgis. This book is very well illustrated and has a fast pace and lots of fun characters. Read, and have a quirky little adventure with your children. 

My Little Dragon 

A lovely little book about a boy and his dragon. Sweetly written and full of friendship, fun and adventure. A treat to read no matter your age. Simply illustrated with care and heart. Kids will love to read this as a bedtime story. Gentle in its narrative but still enjoyable and will make you smile. 

Lottie the Ladybird's Adventure

This is a rather cute tale of friendship and kindness. The main character is an adorable, young girl that helps a ladybird (ladybug for the Americans) to find her missing spots. Meeting colourful characters on their adventure it is fun and would be a perfect book for younger readers or as a bedtime story to read together. The well-drawn illustrations help with the joy of reading the story and set the scenes in children's minds. Short and sweet.

How Animals Say Goodnight

Educational and emotional. A lovely set of short stories about how each animal sleeps and the illustrations are colourful and beautiful. The book is well-written and full of soft words that make it perfect as a bedtime book. Children will love to learn about each animal and will fall asleep with a smile on their face. 

Sweet Dreams Numplings

Sweet dreams is a very well illustrated book for very small children. Toddlers will love this. A great bedtime story and a perfect introduction into books for babies. Lovely little sounds can be made to soothe the baby and get them to sleep. Beautiful. 

The Silver Helmet

A fun adventure story for those that like battles, revenge and magic. A tale that is well-written and full of depth. The story focuses around Saven a young man who does not know his true past and will have an amazing future. It seems well researched and very typical of a Viking age story. There is much to learn here and it would be a great story to read for those children learning about this era. But, it has fantasy and mythology mixed in for some thrills.

Fish Don't Sneeze

Ahhh, a fish that can not make friends because he sneezes too much! Lovely illustrations and a sweet story. The point of the tale is to be happy with who you are - even when you are different than others. True friends won't care: they will stand by you through thick and thin. Yes, friends may be few and far between, but that is on those who won't be your friend.  A beautiful sentiment for children who feel a little lonely sometimes.

Forever Freddy and the Vikings

When you think about time travel you might not think about a book that has Vikings on the cover. But this is a book that has many facets. It is a story of a young boy that loves Vikings, and ends up traveling to their time and becoming one! There is a strong fantasy element and strange creatures to contend with. With fun illustrations and with the story being a rollicking riot of a ride, it is worthy of a read and will (we are sure) become a well loved classic.

The Tractor Who Wants To Fall Asleep

A lovely way to get your kids to sleep. strange that it is a weird book to read but it really works. Kids fall asleep while you are still reading. Is it magic? Hypnotism? or something else? No idea but it is brilliant if you have a child that always wants to stay awake. 

The Wishing Well Collection 3

This is a fun book of stories for little readers. Children will love these tales about fairies and magic. This book introduces angels as friends of the fairies. The stories are full of gentle life lessons and teaches children various things like how to do the right thing and how to help one another. Less dancing than the last two books but this third collection is kept in the same style and the illustrations are just as charming.  

The Child of Fire and Earth

This is a fun adventure story for younger readers, well- written and quite funny with plenty of action, it is set in a land of dragons and fairies. It is an adventure story with some great characters and creatures.
The author brings the story to life with some great banter and funny one liners. The hero has a realistic take on life and is not perfect, which makes him more relatable. The story never quite lets you know if it is set in an alternative of our world or not, but that adds to the fantasy element and gives you some familiar situations to keep kids reading and connected to the narrative. 

The Wish Fairy of Stoney Middleton

A short but sweet story about wishes. Lovey with a gentle moral that is obvious without being preachy. The illustrations are perfect and match the writing style well. Kids will love the mischievous Wish Fairy and the delightful narrative. This is a great read for young children and would work well as a bedtime story or a read-together book. 

Rock Paper Killers

A thrilling read about a group of school children thrown together in a remote setting. It took a little while to get to grips with all the characters and relationships but that's teens for you. It could have been introduced better possibly.  The narrative was a little choppy at times but once you have it all clear in your mind, it was much easier to get into. The chapters alternating between three weeks ahead and to the present was a little hard to follow but this is not an easy book to read.
However, once you really dive deep it is hard to put down and worth the initial struggle. 

Robin Hood: Hacking, Heists & Flaming Arrows

One for those kids with a love of adventure and riding through the glen. This modern retelling of a traditional British legend, it is pretty cool to read and comes at you in a very classic style of adventure novel. Easy for kids to get stuck in to. The characters are funny and full of great little quirks. Brilliant! You will love the small nods hear and there to the original tales and the story was a brilliant one with archery and tech becoming a great combination of weaponry. 

Benny and Bobby

A fantastic book about how the smallest creature can change the world. Set in WW2 and with a range of interesting characters that keep you reading. But, the stars are Benny and Bobby, two white mice that are left behind when their Jewish master has to flee Germany. The story is fun, the mice are funnier, and the whole thing comes together as a great book for kids. 

Summer Switch

Finally, we found the sequel to Freaky Friday! It is easy to say that Annabelle was a more interesting switch than Ape face, but this one is slightly more subtle and better than the movie with Fred Savage. Be ready for more confusion, fun and kids realising that their parents have a tough life, and parents being reminded that being a kid was not all that great after all.

A Dragon With ADHD

Ahhhhh this is so sweet. A lovely way to explain ADHD to children who might not know much about it, or to children that might not understand why they are the way they are. It is full of colour and speaks to kids with a gentle voice about ADHD. While it focuses more on how ADHD affects boys, the main message is that every child is different. 
It talks about being unable to stay still, fidgeting, fear of loud voices or sounds, interrupting, and fast uncontrollable talking.
This book helps kids understand ADHD better and will help them feel a little more included.

No, Squirrel!

What a beautifully illustrated book! The story is funny and full of clever ways to get the young reader involved. This is well drawn and well written. Aimed at very young children, it is a book full of bright animal characters and easy to read words. There is a lesson in there as well about waiting, having patience, and being rewarded for good behaviour. Fun to read together and a great book for early readers to enjoy. 

Chicka Chicka Boom Boom

This book is colourful all over which is very appealing to kids. It's title is quite a funny grabbing little rhyme. The narrative is a funny little story and will help children to learn the letters of the alphabet. The bright colours and nice illustrations keep kids interested. Fun to read and a brilliant rhyming book.  

Click, Clack, Moo

This book is very funny and although the art work is a little rough around the edges it is still quite delightful.

 It’s a beginning book that is simple to read, and will appeal to younger children.

The cows are hilarious. The fact that they are typing their demands to the farmer is such a clever and humorous idea. Kids will enjoy the story and get drawn in by the lovely pictures. 

Twisty Tales 3

Great book in the series. How do the authors keep coming up with this stuff? Funny and clever. There is a lesson in each story but it is gently told and not shoved down the readers throat. Great to leave kids reading alone or to read together. This is the type of book that seems to attract younger readers and suck them into the world of literature. Anything that gets kids reading is brilliant. Enjoy the silly stories but look for the message that will give you a smile too.

Wendy the Windy Witch

So, this can be taken in two ways. Firstly it is a book about a witch that pops a lot (By that I mean she farts). It is a natural thing and we all do it and maybe this is good to get out there and make children realise that is is ok and not anything to be embarrassed about. On the other hand, this is a pretty low form of humour, but then that appeals to kids. Your choice, to pop or not to pop?

Cook It!

The series is rather good plus all the books have diverse characters to read about, non-traditional families and a mix up of traditional gender roles, great stuff and it shows kids doing interesting, real activities that they can do in real life. Despite this high praise I must say that these books are not that much fun to read, which is a shame, because there is very little text and yet quite a lot of stuff happening in the illustration that needs explaining, and the text often fails to tell you who's talking, so you get a little muddled. However, if you want children to ask about the pictures and are ready to explain what is going on in your own words, then it is fine for a younger child.

Lizzie’s Dream Journal

This book is great for helping children deal, or even just talk about, loss and bullying. Lizzie’s life has been turned upside down. Her wonderful Father has let her down and now he is dead. She can not even ask him why he did the things he did. She is being tormented by a group of girls at school, and has alienated her only friend. Then one day her mother buys her a journal so that Lizzie can write down her feelings and stories. But, this journal is magical and will take her on an amazing set of adventures. This will in turn help her with her real life, and her real grief, and get her back on steady ground. I would highly recommend this amazing book. It will honestly make you laugh and cry and will get your child excited about reading. 

The Secret Lake

Time travel is a great idea despite all the issues and paradoxes that if causes, I love to read or watch programmes/movies about it. This book takes on time travel for the younger reader and it is quite a good read, it is full of secrets, adventures and lots of mystery. The plot is exciting and I like the contrast of details between modern day life and that of a hundred years ago. The character development is a little thin on the ground, it's a shortish book but more was needed to make it fully engaging, which is a shame. However, it was worth reading and I would recommend it. 

We Animals Would Like a Word With You

A witty book about how we treat animals and what that says about humans. All the poems in this book are written through the eyes of different animals and they have quite a lot to say. Not only are these poems amusing and clever, they also have an underlying moral theme. The book is great when read aloud and children react very well to the poetry element. Reminded me of a song in the original Dr Dolittle. 

Interesting Stories for Curious Kids

I would recommend this book for kids and adults alike. Some of the interesting facts that are mentioned in this book surprised me as much as my kids. It also helps that the author used humour to make it more interesting and I found myself reading bits out loud to my partner or sharing some of the things I had learnt, at work. Great stories, laid out well. Worth a read.

The Wishing Well Collection V2

This is a lovely selection of stories and as wonderful as the first book. So sweet and yet with a little lesson for the children. Although I think it will predominantly be appealing to little girls, there are also lots of lovely little boys out there that love fairies and magic. Such a special book for bedtime reading and this volume has an adorable 'find it in the pictures' theme. The author obviously cares very much for her young readers and seems to love the little characters she have created. Full of warmth and fun. 

Tommy Turner's Tremendous Travels

Tommy Turner's Tremendous Travels - A real book to use to escape. You get a chance to see so many lands and have a great time while doing it. Action packed, with well drawn illustrations. Basically, an unhappy kid gets to have some magical fun. Now, who does not want to read about that?

Captain Thomas And The Bonfire Night Plot

Not my favourite cover of all time but the story inside is a wild romp. With dastardly plans to steal fireworks and sell them for a profit, spoiling the towns display and a night out for everyone, and quite funny lines. It kept us all entertained and wanting to read more. I think we laughed the most at the funny accent of the Captain. Fun and full of adventure. Will the Captain be caught? You will have to read to find out.

Ella Has A Plan

Ella Has A Plan - Warm and funny. Beautiful illustrations. Kids will love it. Ella has a problem at a family event. She has to think up a way to fix it and it shows how she overcomes the issue and sorts out her family. So sweet and adorable. Fun to read together.

My Dad Loves to Toot

My Dad Loves to Toot - The silliest book I have read to my kids in quite a while, but they loved it. Great drawings and they all agreed that indeed their dad loves to toot too. It is said that tooting can be bad but it makes a great book, full of fun and something we could all giggle over. A little naughty but nice moment with the kids.

Twisty Tales 2

An anthology of fun stories for kids. 3 tales that will make kids read or listen as you read to them. Clever and a bit gross in places, but, kids love that don't they? Each story has a lesson included and will teach a little something to the kids. There is also a book one that is full of fun stories too. Worth a look. 

Who's Taken it?

Flat Stanley

Flat Stanley - This is a brilliant story and still makes me smile to this day. I remember reading this as a kid. Great for boys and girls alike. Funny and thoughtful. A sweet tale that will keep your kid entertained.

Marther Panther＆Carlos Chameleon 

A book about Fostering and adoption. Very nice story with a special message. Celebrates diversity and friendship. A gentle book to read and get children to understand the different types of families that can exist.

When I Grow Up

A very sweet book about acceptance and growing up. Quite a nice story, very good illustrations. I think I would have liked it more if it had rhymed but that is just me. Motherly advice is always a good thing. I liked the bit about dogs in school. Every kid's dream!